Kendal is responsible for the layouts of Heartland’snewspapers and other publications. In addition, Kendal also produces other graphics, designs, and advertisements for Heartland.org. He is also the host of Heartland's “In the Tank Podcast,” uploaded to the Heartland Daily Podcast iTunes feed every Friday.

If you don’t visit Somewhat Reasonable and the Heartlander digital magazine every day, you’re missing out on some of the best news and commentary on liberty and free markets you can find. But worry not, freedom lovers! The Heartland Weekly Email is here for you every Friday with a highlight show. Subscribeto the email today, and read this week’s edition below.

According to The Heartland Institute’s profile at Wikipedia, we are an unreliable front group for major corporations… except that they all stopped contributing to us four years ago… and we are “best known” for our work on tobacco control, though we devote practically no resources to that subject. Left-wing activists have taken over the site recently, removing objective descriptions of our programs and publications and replacing them with lies, errors, and outright libelous claims. Can you help? READ MORE

The idea of invoking Article V of the Constitution to rein in an out-of-control federal government is gaining steam. Supporters of the idea get passionate about what approach to take, convinced their path is best. Watch a recording of Wednesday night’s live-stream as former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Brennan, now with Convention USA, and former Iowa state legislator Neal Schuerer of Campaign Constitution debate the merits of their proposals before a live audience at The Heartland Institute. READ MORE

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama released a budget that included imposing a $10.25 carbon tax on every barrel of oil. “Though advocated as a way to fight global warming, it would have little effect on carbon dioxide emissions (which are already falling in the United States) and no detectable impact on climate,” said Heartland President Joseph Bast. Read why Heartland joined the American Energy Alliance and 21 other free-market and conservative groups as signatories to an open letter opposing the carbon tax. READ MORE

Research Fellow Isaac Orr, co-author of a series of Heartland Policy Studies addressing frac sand mining, joins host H. Sterling Burnett to discuss the most recently released installment in the series, addressing the impacts of mining on land use and property values. Orr addresses the fear-mongering by opponents of mining with reason and facts. LISTEN TO MORE

The Heartland Institute’s newest book, Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming, demolishes the myth that “97% of scientists” believe mankind is the cause of a global warming catastrophe. Heartland President Joseph Bast, who edited the book, will discuss his findings and bid a fond farewell to one of the coauthors, Robert Carter who passed away on January 19, at a free event at Heartland’s headquarters in Arlington Heights, Illinois, onMarch 9. Go to Amazon.com or the Heartland store [store.heartland.org] now and order a copy, or become a Heartland donor and get a free copy!

The passing of Antonin Scalia reminds us about the importance and influence of the late Supreme Court justice. Scalia played a major role in protecting individual liberty up until his last days. Had he died just a few days earlier, a 4–4 split decision likely would have left in place the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan – a set of regulations that would have had disastrous effects on the national economy. READ MORE

A majority of chief financial officers (CFOs) said in a recent survey that dealing with Obamacare’s higher premiums is now “the fastest-growing threat to their company’s bottom line.” An even larger majority say the complexity of Obamacare regulations is taking their focus away from their primary objective – running their businesses. This was a reality long-delayed but finally here because the 2015 tax year marks the first year many of the Affordable Care Act’s costly and labor-intensive small business tax rules go into effect. READ MORE

Since their establishment in 2014, eight of the 14 Obamacare state exchange programs have imploded due to critical financial problems. Alexander Hendrie, a federal affairs manager with Americans for Tax Reform, says taxpayers are being taken advantage of by a structure that was never going to work, combined with enormous waste in spending. “Oregon spent $20 million on an advertising campaign that told people nothing about health insurance or the exchange,” Hendrie said. “At the time, people in the state knew their exchange was not going to work, but [it] went ahead anyway.” READ MORE

Lawmakers on the Durham County, North Carolina Board of Commissioners rang in the New Year by adding e-cigarettes to the city’s list of “tobacco” products banned from use or possession on city or county government property – including sidewalks, parks, trails, athletic fields, and public transportation stops. “The [purported] justification for Durham’s e-cigarette ban shows just how far the action strays from a true public-health purpose,” said Mitch Kokai, communications director for the John Locke Foundation, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. READ MORE

The fear driven by global warming alarmism is starting to take a destructive toll on the country. Tom Harris, executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition, joins host H. Sterling Burnett to talk about how the government’s attempts to combat climate change are economic suicide. Harris also explains why Obama’s war on coal is unjustified and how climate science doesn’t support the need to suppress fossil fuel use. LISTEN TO MORE

Despite Common Core’s promise of providing equal, nationwide benchmarks for student learning in math and reading, a new study finds proficiency levels on Common Core tests vary widely, and almost all are below what the National Assessment of Educational Progress considers “basic.” School Choice Weekly friend and researcher Richard Inness also shows how new Common Core-aligned tests appear to be inflating student proficiency, even though Common Core was supposed to help solve this problem, too. Had enough central education planning yet? READ MORE

The College Board, with assistance from the Republican-led Congress, is seeing to it that its radically revised college-entrance exam, the SAT, can step right in as a replacement to the unpopular PARCC and Smarter Balanced tests to measure high school students’ Common Core-defined “college and career readiness.” If the SAT becomes established as a graduation requirement, the standardization and centralized decision-making sought by Common Core’s elitist architects will become easier to achieve than it was under consortia testing. READ MORE

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